Systems for cooling interior air spaces using combinations of conventional air conditioners and swimming pools in combination are known. However, the known systems do not include apparatus and methods for cooling or heating the pools, while simultaneously cooling the refrigerant, most especially for performing such operations in locales that are generally unsuitable for evaporative cooling of interior spaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,901,563 suggests a heat transfer system for use in cooling and dehumidifying an interior space while rejecting heat to several alternative sources. The system incorporates three primary heat transfer coils in a mechanical refrigeration cycle to provide comfort cooling to an interior space while rejecting heat to one of two primary condensing mediums. The heat transfer system is said to function by transferring heat from the atmosphere to a pool. There is no means disclosed to cool the pool water.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,696 suggest a method and apparatus for using various components as a system for cooling air. The apparatus uses a combination of an evaporative cooler, a refrigerated air system with a water cooled condenser, a swimming pool pump, and a swimming pool or other bulk water storage container. During cooler weather, the output air from the evaporative cooler is supplied to a series of ducts and is used to cool the interior of a structure. When the outside ambient temperature and/or humidity exceed the capabilities of the evaporative cooler for cooling the interior of the structure to the desired temperature, the output air from the evaporative cooler is re-directed to the attic space of the structure and the refrigerated air from the refrigerated air system is used to cool the interior of the structure.
Air conditioning systems find wide use, however evaporative cooling systems, once popular in areas of generally low humidity, are being replaced by conventional air conditioning systems in many areas where evaporative cooling and the necessary low humidity were formerly predominant. Not only do evaporative coolers lose efficiency as temperatures and humidities rise, but the air that evaporative coolers supply is generally too humid itself to provide adequate cooling in today's conditioned air market.
In many geographic areas, moving the date of pool use earlier into in the spring and/or later in the fall would be advantageous. Allowing the heat generated in the cooling of a refrigerant circuit to be used in heating a pool, to achieve such expanded pool use would be advantageous. However, as the cooling season progresses and the months get hotter, a method for cooling the pool water while still providing at least some refrigerant cooling would also be advantageous when the pool temperature rises above a temperature generally deemed too high for swimmers to tolerate. In areas where evaporative cooling is not generally practical, such as generally more humid areas, other means would be desirable to cool interior spaces, cool or heat a body of water such as a pool, and improve efficiency of air conditioning systems. There is a commercial need therefore for such a system.